Using dye-tracing and chemical analyses to determine effects of a wastewater discharge to Jam Up Creek on water quality of Big Spring, southeastern Missouri, 2001

Abstract

On July 5, 2001, approximately 50,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater was accidentally discharged from the Mountain View wastewater-treatment plant in Howell County, Missouri, into nearby Jam Up Creek. The creek is a tributary of the Jacks Fork, a recreational stream administered by the National Park Service (NFS) as part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways in southeastern Missouri (fig. 1). Jam Up Creek is located in a mature karst terrain and normally loses all surface flow about 0.5 to 1.0 river mile downstream from the wastewatertreatment plant. Historical dye-trace investigations conducted in 1972(Aley, 1975) and 1982 [unpublished data on file at the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Geological Survey and Resources Assessment Division (MDNR-GSRAD)] indicate the existence of a subsurface hydraulic connection between the losing reach of Jam Up Creek and Big Spring on the Current River in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (fig. 1; Imes and Kleeschulte, 1995). The time for dye to travel in the ground-water flow system through the karst terrain from Jam Up Creek to Big Spring (a distance of 38 miles) was estimated to be 35 to 40 days, which means that water transported the dye at a rate of about 0.95 to 1.1 mi/d (mile per day). The quantity